Telit Joins CBRS Alliance to Advance Private LTE Networks

Telit has joined the CBRS Alliance, an organization focused on supporting the development, commercialization and adoption of LTE and 5G solutions for the 3.5 GHz Citizens Broadband Radio Service (CBRS) band. Telit’s membership, first by a cellular module vendor, is the latest example of its leadership in pioneering new technologies, including private LTE and 5G.

In February 2018, Telit announced the LM960, the world’s first Gigabit mPCIe adapter card supporting LTE Advanced Pro Category 18. Featuring download speeds of up to 1.2Gbps and global coverage, the LM960 is also the world’s first mobile broadband adapter card to support CBRS – band 48. This makes it ideal for OEMs that want to serve the emerging private LTE market with routers, gateways and other devices connecting to LTE access points, small cells and other CBRS infrastructure.

As member of the CBRS Alliance, Telit brings the necessary perspective of the cellular communication module and adapter card. Cellular technology integration is complex and highly regulated. LTE and 5G devices supporting CBRS require multiple levels of costly certification for compliance with governmental, industrial and mobile operator rules and regulations, along with hard to navigate intellectual property licensing. Unlike unlicensed-spectrum wireless LAN technologies like Wi-Fi where it is typical for OEMs to integrate devices directly with a chipset, cellular technology is only feasible for chip-down designs when annual volumes run in the millions of units.

“With the LM960, and now as a member of the CBRS Alliance, Telit continues to pioneer the private LTE market with industry-first and industry-leading technologies,” said Manish Watwani, Chief Marketing and Product Officer, Telit. “This leadership will continue into 5G, where we plan on including full support to CBRS bands and services in our forthcoming 5G mobile broadband devices.”

“Telit’s expertise in enterprise-grade mobile broadband and IoT solutions as well as its experience supporting customers in go-to-market for products and solutions involving heavily regulated wireless standards such as cellular, makes them a natural fit for the CBRS Alliance,” said Alan Ewing, Executive Director, CBRS Alliance. “We look forward to working with Telit in advancing this exciting new market.”

“Private LTE and upcoming private 5G networks are poised to redefine the corporate wireless networking space. Large campuses and sites like airports, large logistics and distribution hubs are pushing current WLAN standards to their technological limits,” said Christian Kim, Senior Analyst, IHS Markit.